statuary. Landscape, of which Poussin became increasingly fond, pro-
vides the setting for the picture. Dominating the foreground, how-
ever, are three shepherds, living in the idyllic land of Arcadia, who
study an inscription on a tomb as a statuesque female figure quietly
places her hand on the shoulder of one of them. She may be the spirit
of death, reminding these mortals, as does the inscription, that death
is found even in Arcadia, supposedly a spot of paradisiacal bliss. The
countless draped female statues surviving in Italy from Roman times
supplied the models for this figure, and the posture of the youth with
one foot resting on a boulder derives from Greco-Roman statues of
Neptune, the sea god, leaning on his trident. The classically compact
and balanced grouping of the figures, the even light, and the thought-
ful and reserved mood complement Poussin’s classical figure types.BURIAL OF PHOCIONAmong Poussin’s finest works is Burial
of Phocion (FIG. 25-25), a subject the artist characteristically chose
from the literature of antiquity. Poussin’s source was Plutarch’s Life
of Phocion,a biography of the distinguished Athenian general whom
his compatriots unjustly put to death for treason. Eventually, the
state gave Phocion a public funeral and memorialized him. In the
foreground of Poussin’s painting, the hero’s body is being taken
away, his burial on Athenian soil initially forbidden. The two massive
bearers and the bier are starkly isolated in a great landscape that
throws them into solitary relief, eloquently expressive of the hero
abandoned in death. The landscape’s interlocking planes slope up-
ward to the lighted sky at the left. Its carefully arranged terraces bear
slowly moving streams, shepherds and their flocks, and, in the dis-692 Chapter 25 NORTHERN EUROPE, 1600 TO 1700A
s the leading exponent of classical painting in 17th-century
Rome, Nicolas Poussin (FIGS. 25-24and 25-25) outlined the
principles of classicism in notes for an intended treatise on painting,
left incomplete at his death. In those notes, Poussin described the es-
sential ingredients necessary to produce a beautiful painting in “the
grand manner”:
The grand manner consists of four things: subject-matter or theme,
thought, structure, and style. The first thing that, as the foundation
of all others, is required, is that the subject-matter shall be grand, as
are battles, heroic actions, and divine things. But assuming that the
subject on which the painter is laboring is grand, his next considera-
tion is to keep away from minutiae... [and paint only] things mag-
nificent and grand ....Those who elect mean subjects take refuge
in them because of the weakness of their talents.*The idea of beauty does not descend into matter unless [a painting]
is prepared as carefully as possible. This preparation consists of three
things: arrangement, measure, and aspect or form. Arrangement
means the relative position of the parts; measure refers to their size;
and form consists of lines and colors. Arrangement and relative posi-
tion of the parts and making every limb of the body hold its natural
place are not sufficient unless measure is added, which gives to each
limb its correct size, proportionate to that of the whole body [com-
pare “Polykleitos’s Prescription for the Perfect Statue,” Chapter 5,
page 124], and unless form joins in, so that the lines will be drawn
with grace and with a harmonious juxtaposition of light and shadow.†* Translated by Robert Goldwater and Marco Treves, eds.,Artists on Art,3d ed.
(New York: Pantheon Books, 1958), 155.
†Ibid., 156.Poussin’s Notes for a Treatise on Painting
ARTISTS ON ART25-25Nicolas Poussin,
Burial of Phocion,1648. Oil
on canvas, 3 11 5 10 .
Louvre, Paris.
Poussin’s landscapes do not
represent a particular place
and time but are idealized
settings for noble themes,
like this one based on Plu-
tarch’s biography of the
Athenian general Phocion.1 ft.25-25APOUSSIN,
Saint John on
Patmos,1640.